Coconut Shrimp

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
This is my favorite way to make fried jumbo shrimp. The shrimp in the pictures are 4 tails make a pound as you can see in the first picture. The knife's blade is 8 3/8" long.

Coconut Shrimp

Your favorite frying oil mine is Canola or Peanut
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 large egg beaten
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cups flaked coconut (Option you can mix 1/2 cup of coconut with 1/2 cup of panko)
1 pounds jumbo shrimp, peeled with tails on

Heat oil in a large deep skillet, or heavy pot or deep fryer to 350 degrees F.

Dredge the shrimp with the cornstarch then the egg mixture and shake off any excess. Press the shrimp into the coconut flakes; turn shrimp over and press into coconut again to coat both sides.

Deep-fry the shrimp in batches until the coconut is golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, remove the shrimp to paper towels to drain.

Orange Dipping Sauce
1/2 cup orange marmalade
1 to 2 tablespoons dark rum
1 lime, juiced
Mix all ingredients in a bowl and use for dipping.
 

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The Tourist

Banned
Joe, it appears from your pic that the little critters still have their "shoes on."

Did you use that gyuto to trim, denude, de-vein or some other process before the dipping? Do you have pictures of that process?

(BTW, I gotta ask, tell us a little more about that knife...)
 

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
Actually living here in Kentucky the last five years and coming from Miami Florida it has been a bit of a culture shock in sea food. Now I've lived in other places but all where close to the oceans so getting fresh sea food was never a problem. So with that said getting good fresh sea food it a bit of a trick for me now since I'm a good bit from the oceans of the world.

The local Kroger's sells these giants a couple time a year and I pretty much buy them out. They come as the first picture shows them without the head but has the shell on when I buy them which leaves me to simply shell them, leaving the tail then devain them and butter fly cut them.

The knife I used for this is a 210mm Misono UX10 with a custom handle made for me by Fish (shown in the picture). Most won't know who he is but he was a moderator on Knifeforums.com that seems to have fallen off the planet over the last year. He was the premier handle maker and probably did 500 handles while there. I own 6 of his handled knives in my collection including 3 cleavers and 3 knives. He truly was a master of wood working.

The Misono UX10 is one of the best Japanese knife in regards to fit/finish as well as balance out of the box. They make several different versions of their knives from the UX10 (top of their line) to the Molybdenum, 440 and carbon steel lines. All are excellent in their own rights.

As for the cooking I have a very good deep fryer which I use with these. The main process is simply dredging them in corn starch, egg and then the panko (I use the honey panko) coconut combo. I do add salt and pepper to the corn starch. It only takes about 2 minutes to get them perfectly done. I've used several different dips with them through the years but love this orange/rum dip the best with them. This is a dish served through out the Caribbean and Florida was well as many other places.

All I suggest is get the largest shrimp you can find to make these as it doesn't work well with medium or smaller. These just happen to be colossal sized even larger than any I've seen even in Florida.
 
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Cooksie

Well-known member
Site Supporter
This is my favorite way to make fried jumbo shrimp. The shrimp in the pictures are 4 tails make a pound as you can see in the first picture. The knife's blade is 8 3/8" long.

Coconut Shrimp

Your favorite frying oil mine is Canola or Peanut
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 large egg beaten
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cups flaked coconut (Option you can mix 1/2 cup of coconut with 1/2 cup of panko)
1 pounds jumbo shrimp, peeled with tails on

Heat oil in a large deep skillet, or heavy pot or deep fryer to 350 degrees F.

Dredge the shrimp with the cornstarch then the egg mixture and shake off any excess. Press the shrimp into the coconut flakes; turn shrimp over and press into coconut again to coat both sides.

Deep-fry the shrimp in batches until the coconut is golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, remove the shrimp to paper towels to drain.

Orange Dipping Sauce
1/2 cup orange marmalade
1 to 2 tablespoons dark rum
1 lime, juiced
Mix all ingredients in a bowl and use for dipping.

Pic's are beautiful and shrimp look de-lish!

I've had something very similar to this at Outback for an appetizer. I was hesitant about the coconut, but in the ones that I had, you don't get a real sweet coconut taste. They are delicious. We eat a lot of shrimp.....lol, like you all don't know that with all my shwimpy pics :)...., and I am going to branch out and try my hand at making these.

Thanks!
 

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
I use plan coconut shaving like one would put on a cake. The dipping sauce works great with it too but so would a typical Catchup, chili sauce and horse radish or a home made tarter sauce both of which I have used with them. You do want to use the largest shrimp you can find though as they are way better than the small ones. These shown here are just plain gigantic shrimp that I get a couple of times a year only. The most important thing is the temp of the oil before frying them 350 to 360 is about right at least what I've found to work pretty good with them even with jumbo size instead of the colossal like these show here.

Oh and I almost forgot if you use only coconut it doesn't get real crisp while it does if you mix the panko and coconut about 50/50.
 
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Cooksie

Well-known member
Site Supporter
Thanks for the tips. I'm going to try the panko/coconut mixture for the coating. I want them crispy :).
 

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
I used to do them in my wok with peanut oil but now have a good large basket deep fryer I use canola oil as it is cheaper than the peanut oil. My fryer needs 4 qts of oil to use. The peanut oil adds a peanut flavor though not strong the canola adds no taste that I can taste.
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Wow, I missed this thread first time around!

I've only had this dish once, in a restaurant, and was surprised that I loved it!

Great job, Joe!! They look fabulous!

Lee
 

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
I had it the first time the night of my high school prom. After the prom we went to a little restaurant on Miami Beach and order them, I've been eating them since as well as tried several different methods of making them with this being the best recipe to date.
 

Meme4251

New member
do you taste any of the coconut or is it basically used as a batter mixed with the panko? Sure look nice and yes, down where we are can get these every weekend during the season, the jumbo, jumbo ones.
 

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
I can taste the coconut and it adds a bit of sweetness to it but not over whelming by any means.
 
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